Course

Unit 1

Access Control and Authentication

Access control mechanisms in general computing systems; Access control models – DAC, MAC, RBAC, ABAC; Authentication and authorization mechanisms – Passwords (Single-factor vs Multi-factor Authentication), Biometrics, CAPTCHA; Single Sign-On (SSO);
Federated identity management – OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect; Authentication protocols – Kerberos, X.509 certificates, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), FIDO2/WebAuthn (overview)

Unit 2

Malware and Protection Mechanisms

Introduction to malware; Types – Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Ransomware, Spyware, Rootkits, Polymorphic and Metamorphic malware; Advanced threats – Botnets, Fileless malware, APT (overview); Protection mechanisms – Antivirus, Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR), Firewalls (Packet filtering, Stateful, Next-Generation Firewalls), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS); Zero Trust Security (overview).

Unit 3

Networking and Internet Security

Networking basics and common vulnerabilities; Web security principles; Email security; Secure communication protocols – SSL, TLS (including TLS 1.3), HTTPS;
Wireless security – WEP, WPA, WPA2, WPA3 (overview); Secure Electronic Transaction (SET); PGP and S/MIME; IP Sec (AH and ESP modes); Introduction to Block chain and its security applications

Unit 4

Multimedia and Data Hiding Security

Image processing basics; Digital watermarking – Robust and Fragile watermarking techniques; Steganography – Spatial and Transform domain techniques; Visual cryptography; Applications in copyright protection and authentication.

Unit 5

Database and Big Data Security

Database system basics; Database security issues and control mechanisms; Database watermarking; Statistical inference attacks; Private Information Retrieval (PIR);
Privacy in data publishing – k-anonymity, l-diversity, t-closeness (overview);
SQL Injection and countermeasures; Introduction to Spark security – Authentication, Authorization, Encryption in distributed systems.

Text Books / References

Text Books:

1. Mark Stamp, Information Security: Principles and Practice, 3rd Edition, Wiley, 2021.
2. Behrouz A. Forouzan &Debdeep Mukhopadhyay, Cryptography and Network Security, 3rd Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Education, 2015.

References

1. William Stallings and Lawrie Brown, Computer Security: Principles and Practice, 5th Edition, Pearson, 2023
2. Atul Kahate, Cryptography and Network Security, 4th Edition, McGraw Hill Education, 2019.
3. OWASP Foundation, OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks: 2025 Edition, Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP).
4. NIST Special Publications (SP 800 Series), including SP 800-207 “Zero Trust Architecture,” National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
5. R. Sarma Danturthi, Database and Application Security: A Practitioner’s Guide, Addison-Wesley Professional, 2024.
6. Frank Y. Shih, Digital Watermarking and Steganography: Fundamentals and Techniques, 2nd Edition, CRC Press (2017).
7. Antony Lewis, The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains: An Introduction to Cryptocurrencies and Distributed Ledger Technology, 2nd Edition, 2021.

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of data security principles across computing systems, networks, multimedia, and databases. It covers access control models, authentication mechanisms, malware threats and defense strategies, secure communication protocols, multimedia security techniques, and database protection mechanisms. The course emphasizes modern security architectures such as Zero Trust, federated identity management, blockchain security applications, and privacy-preserving techniques in data publishing and big data systems. Students will gain both theoretical foundations and practical insights into designing secure systems and mitigating contemporary cyber threats.

Course Outcomes: After successful completion of the course, students will be able to

1. CO1: Describe and compare access control models, authentication mechanisms, federated identity systems, and authentication protocols used in modern computing environments.
2. CO2: Analyze different types of malware and evaluate protection mechanisms including firewalls, IDS/IPS, EDR, and Zero Trust architectures.
3. CO3: Apply secure communication protocols and security mechanisms (TLS, IPSec, PGP, WPA3, Blockchain) to protect networked systems and web applications.
4. CO4: Evaluate digital watermarking, steganography, and visual cryptography techniques for protecting multimedia data and ensuring authenticity.
5. CO5: Design security solutions for databases and big data systems addressing SQL injection, inference attacks, privacy preservation, and distributed system security (e.g., Spark).

CO-PO Mapping: